Google confirmed that it's planning to roll out business profiles to its new Google+ social network. The news is bittersweet for small to midsize businesses (SMBs).

Bitter, because it takes time to create new profiles and learn a new ecosystem. Sweet, because what Google can potentially offer through pages for SMBs is significantly more compelling than Facebook's Pages. That's even despite Google+ just getting off the ground, while Facebook counts more than 750 million users.

Why? Since Google's inception in 1998, the company has concentrated on building all the services we already utilise for both personal and business use. All it needs to do now is tie them all together.

So I remain torn over whether I'm making a mistake to be adopting Google+ so readily, just as I wonder if ardent Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn devotees, among others, are making the same mistake. At the moment I've decided the value I get for what I give is worth it.

A series of high-value IPOs have already happened this year, with the likes of the profit-free digital music service Pandora floating for $2.6bn last month and LinkedIn going public with a market valuation now touching $9bn. The new generation of the internet is here. Gone are the days of the information web – it is now all about the social internet and companies like Groupon and Zynga are the new hot tickets for investors.Sky-high valuations are back after a long drought for hungry investors. With Zynga's IPO off the blocks – which could see the young company valued at an eye-watering $20bn only four years after founding – and Facebook's IPO expected in the first half of 2012 setting its value at a potentially whopping $100bn it's understandable why the words technology and bubble have begun to be linked again.

A crowdfunding site can be a great way to simplify the process of seeking financing from, say, family and friends. And until now, most business owners using the sites have been looking for very small amounts ($10,000 or less). However, according to the Journal, the sites are beginning to enable larger transactions as more business owners are turning to them.

Furthermore, the number of consumers agreeing that they rarely pay attention to adverts on social networking sites rises to 70% of users aged 25-34. In Mintel’s latest report examining the social media and networking market, just 11% of consumers say they actively pay attention to advertising on social networks whilst almost a third (31%) listen instead to recommendations for products and services from their online social network.

Regardless of whether people are creating a mini-economy around their project idea, or simply generating cash for a wider charitable cause, these types of strategies are rooted in connecting and stimulating a Crowd. Crowdgiving defines project and cause- and whether the users of JustGiving realise it or not, they are the integral part of this new charity fundraising model.

For many companies presenting targeted information to their customers, employees or shareholders is a key goal – it stops people searching for information and finding alternatives. Apps provide the perfect delivery mechanism for this kind of targeted information and will continue to grow as more and more information needs to be delivered.
Of course, we shouldn’t forget the ‘cool’ factor of apps. Many marketing teams will want to create apps just to show that they are trendsetters in their industry … and soon everyone else will have to catch up. In fact we are entering a period now where not having a mobile app will be the sign of a ‘dinosaur’ organisation, much like not having a website was in the mid to late-90s.